


The Perfect Gift

by fansbyproducts (sisaat)



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Carlos is a Dork, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 05:11:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2495681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sisaat/pseuds/fansbyproducts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some fluff set after Carlos comes back from the other desert.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Perfect Gift

Cecil lifted a hand to his neatly combed hair and deliberately mussed it up once he walked through the door. He fought back panic when Carlos wasn’t immediately visible, but the smell of lasagna wafted from the oven and he could hear, faintly, the sound of paper tearing and muffled Spanish cursing coming from the direction of Carlos’ private lab.

"Carlos? I’m home!"

"I’ll be with you in a moment!" Carlos shouted back. There was a frantic edge to his voice that worried Cecil. "I just need to finish something."

"Are you alright? Do you need help?"

"No, no, I’m fine! Don’t come in here! I got everything under control."

Cecil eyed the door to Carlos’ lab suspiciously, but all he heard from inside was the sound of scissors and possibly something being taped. It didn’t sound too sinister or deadly and if Carlos said he had everything under control, Cecil would believe him. But if he got whisked off to some other dimension, Cecil would be very cross with him. And then he would cry. But he was probably fine. Scientists were always fine.

He reluctantly walked away from the lab and into their shared bedroom to change into something more comfortable. He got rid his tie and ‘professional reporter’ attire and slipped into a loose shirt depicting skeletons dancing down a stairway made out of cotton candy, some purple plaid Capri pants, and a green plush cardigan. He shoved his feet into his favorite slippers and shuffled back out of the bedroom.

"Cecil?" Carlos called him from the living room. He was sitting on his usual side of the couch with a colorfully wrapped box on his knees. "Come here a moment?"

Intrigued, Cecil joined Carlos on the couch. The somewhat squished box appears to be a gift and, judging from the many tape-covered tears, he would guess that this was what was keeping the scientist busy earlier. A puffy ball of ribbon hid the worse of the damage. It was perfect in every way, but Cecil couldn’t figure out the occasion.

"What is this?"

"It’s for our anniversary. Since I missed it."

"Oh. Oh! But… Carlos, I didn’t get you anything!"

"It’s alright. It’s not much anyway. Here, take it. And sorry about the wrapping."

The box was rather light for its size. Probably not a municipally approved book or a board game. Cecil reverently unwrapped the gift without tearing the paper, prying off the tape so he could remove the whole thing without damaging Carlos perfect work. Under the wrapping, he found a white cardboard box. Excited to see what his Carlos had gotten him, he removed the lid and pulled out the tissue paper.

"A shirt!" Cecil took his gift out of the box to take a better look. It was a sparkly teal hoodie covered in a beautiful depiction of the galaxy in which the stars had been replaced with a spiral of adorable cat heads that started tiny in the center and grew in size as they neared the edge. "Oh, Carlos! It’s so… it’s so neat!"

"I have compared the clothes available in the store with my database of every outfit I’ve seen you wear to find, using very complicated calculations and a software I created, the best match to complement your wardrobe. According to my scientific understanding of your fashion sense, I came to the conclusion that you would find this shirt ‘neat’.”

"You used Science to find me a gift?"

"I guess I wanted to show you that Science wasn’t only good for keeping me distracted and away from you. I know I tend to cancel dates and… stay overlong in strange desert because of it."

Cecil carefully set the shirt down on the coffee table and half-climbed into Carlos’ lap to wrap his arms around his waist and lay his head on his shoulder. “Oh, Carlos. My beautiful, perfect Carlos. Science already did something wonderful for me.”

"And what was that?"

"It brought you to Night Vale."

Carlos pulled Cecil closer and kissed his hair. “I missed you,” he whispered.

"I missed you to. But there’s one thing I’m wondering."

"What is it?"

"When did you start cataloguing my clothes?"

Carlos coughed in what Cecil recognize as his ‘I’m too embarrassed to speak of this’ way. “I… I think the lasagna is ready.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago, but didn't initially post it here because I felt kinda meh about it.


End file.
